Dr. Hall:
About two years ago, I had porcelain veneers placed on my teeth. Now I want to bleach my teeth. Is there anything I can do to whiten the porcelain veneers?
Answer:
Once porcelain veneers are bonded to your teeth, there is nothing that will whiten them. You can whiten your other teeth, but you won’t whiten the veneers.
Recent studies show that bleaching gels will penetrate teeth from behind. So if you have porcelain veneers on the front of the teeth, you can whiten the part of the tooth under the veneer. But the porcelain will not whiten. The result could be some very slight lightening of the color, depending on how translucent the porcelain is.
Your situation shows the importance of having your porcelain veneers done by an expert cosmetic dentist. These cosmetic dentists, who are passionate about appearance, will always suggest bleaching or whitening your teeth before they place porcelain veneers. Then they will match the porcelain veneers to your new whiter shade. They also know how to have porcelain veneers made to the degree of whiteness you desire, which general dentists often don’t know how to do.
Dr. Hall
Questions about porcelain veneers:
- General information about teeth whitening.
- There are a lot of claims on the market about whitening toothpaste. Learn the facts here.
- I’d like to know about Lumineers. Are they any good?
- Lesley from Texas had Lumineers and crowns placed on her front teeth, but now one of the teeth is darkening. This illustrates some of the unexpected problems with a non-expert cosmetic dentist.
- How much do porcelain veneers cost?
- Will these restorations pick up stain from foods you eat and cause your teeth to be discolored?
- I’m getting stains on the edges of my porcelain veneers. What should I do?
- There is an awful smell coming from between my porcelain veneers. What is this?
- Click here to learn about the porcelain veneer procedure.
Click here for referral to an expert cosmetic dentist.
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